2 am Whispers
by Song Of A Free Heart
Summary: A collection of drabbles and oneshots for Jackunzel Week 2014
1. Meet Me At My Window

**Jackunzel Week again? ALREADY? **

***clears throat* Welcome back, everyone! Here's my submission for the first day of Jackunzel Week over on tumblr. **

_**Rise of the Guardians**_** belongs to DreamWorks Animation, **_**Tangled **_** is the property of Disney, and I make no claims to any of them. And, since they'll come up at some point: **_**How To Train Your Dragon **_**is the property of Cressida Cowell and DreamWorks Animation, and **_**BRAVE**_** belongs to Disney/PIXAR.**

_Meet Me At My Window_

Late summer brought with it a humid, stifling heat that seeped everywhere, touched everything, especially in the city. The air was filled with the hum of air conditioners that had been precariously balanced in open window, and even the children who usually played outside were quiet, mostly likely hiding out in any possible shade, or in air conditioned shops. Even as the evening wore on, the heat eased up only a little.

Rapunzel's skin was sticky with a sheen of sweat. A few strands of golden blond hair have come free from her messy bun, clinging to her neck and shoulders. Even in a thin tank top and cut off jeans, she didn't feel better.

All the windows of her apartment had been left open in an attempt to coax in a breeze, but so far it didn't seem to be doing much good.

Part of her, on days like this, missed the luxuriously air conditioned air of her parents' house. Where she didn't give a thought to the number on the thermostat, let alone the resulting number on the electric bill. And she knew she could always drive out beyond the city limits, under the pretense of visiting for a night or two. She could even say that she needed to get away from the city to get a little inspiration, since she had deadlines looming up that she wasn't quite ready for. Her parents wouldn't even ask an explanation.

But she had moved out to prove to herself that she could make it on her own, without help from her father's money. And her pride was loathe to make even the smallest admission of defeat.

So she banished all thought of going to her parents as she stood in the kitchen, fanning the back of her shirt to get some airflow along her spine. The sweat on her back became a blessing as it was immediately cooled, offering some small relief.

Her apartment was simple – especially compared to the veritable mansion she'd grown up in. One bedroom with an adjoined bathroom, and the living room that lead straight into the kitchen, though not quite in a way she would describe as "open concept." She knew her parents weren't happy with the whole situation. But her father at least understood, and have convinced her mother that this was something Rapunzel had to do.

The pot of tea of the stove reached a boil, and she poured it into the glass pitcher that was already half full of ice. She didn't have time to let it steep and sit in the refrigerator for four hours, the way her mother did it when she made iced tea. The sooner it was chilled the better, considering it was the second batch today. She was drinking iced tea constantly throughout the day to stay cool.

The ice melted almost instantly under the stream of boiling tea, leaving only a few slivers of ice. From the freezer she grabbed another tray of ice, using half the cubes to fill the pitcher to the top. Before putting it away she refilled the empty compartments, knowing they would be never later tonight.

With the insufferable heat of the days she had taken to working late into the night, when the cooler air permitted thought, let along movement. Thankfully, as a freelance artist, she was free to set her own hours.

Provided she meet her deadlines.

Tall glass of iced tea on her left hand, using her elbow to brace her sketchbook against her lap while she drew.

When she'd first been asked to do the art for a graphic novel she'd been enthused. Especially since she loved Belle's writing, and to get her break into graphic novels while at the same time doing it for one of Belle's stories had seemed like a dream come true. Until she'd sat down with the character descriptions that had been sent over, and nearly two weeks later, with her deadlines looking, she was still struggling with several character designs. Especially the male lead.

By two in the morning, when she'd been forced to move inside because she needed light to draw, the batch of iced tea was pretty much gone, and she hadn't made much in the way of progress. She had gone back to clean up some of the designs she'd already done. But she didn't have anything new.

She was just setting her things back on the coffee table, thinking about just going to bed and dealing with it tomorrow, when there was a knock on the frame of her still open window.

Her smile was instantaneous as she looked over to see Jack Frost crouching outside her window – still in his dark blue scrubs, his hair it usual gorgeous mess. His grin was worn around the edges, but it was there.

In the six months they'd been neighbors there had been several nights when he'd come home without any trace of his trademark grin. She had come to dread those days. Thankfully, they were few and far between.

He was a CNA at the children's hospital a few blocks north. A job he loved, but which occasionally taxed him emotionally.

When she had first toured the apartment, Rapunzel had been nervous when the landlord said her neighbor would be a young man who kept odd hours – especially since their apartments were connected by the fire escape. She had been about to ask if there were any other apartments available when Jack had swung up onto the fire escape, and the landlord had opened the window to introduce them. Stairs, she had learned quickly, were a waste of time in Jack's opinion. Doors were overrated. But he'd been so polite, she hadn't been the least bit nervous having him for a neighbor.

He had helped her move in, and she knew her parents had been impressed to say the least. Her mother had hinted repeatedly that she hoped they would start dating. And while Rapunzel certainly wasn't opposed to the idea, she was just glad to have a friend so close by. Over the months they had shared conversations, movies and meals (some take out, some homemade). (Movies were in his apartment, since he actually had a TV as opposed to her laptop – dinners were usually at hers, since she could cook, while his culinary skills included cookies and pancakes but not much else.) Occasionally her breakfast would be his dinner, just before he went home to crash after an all night shift.

"Hey," she greeted, leaving her art things on the table to meet him at the window. "How was work?"

He shrugged. "Busy. You wanna go for a walk?"

Rapunzel blinked, taken aback by the question. "What?"

"They had been at the front desk all day, and I'm not ready to go home." He nodded toward his own window for emphasis. "So let's go."

"Jack, it's two in the morning!"

His grin widened. "So?"

"So—" she stopped, realizing she wasn't sure how to respond. She was nineteen, so the city's curfew for minor's didn't apply to her. Her parent's didn't have a curfew, and she lived alone so it wasn't as though she could get in trouble for sneaking out of the house.

"Come on," Jack said, leaning forward. "A walk in the moonlight. I thought girls liked that kind of thing."

Rapunzel started to say girls liked romantic things when they were with the right person… but found she couldn't give the word voice. In part because, if she was going to do this, he was the only person she would want to do it with. His smile, and the blueness of his eyes overwhelmed her, and when he held out a hand to her, she accepted it without really thinking.

#

"You're over thinking it."

"You think so?" Rapunzel asked, glancing over at him as they walked down the path that wound its way through Burgess City Park.

The grass was still emerald green thanks to generous watering, and a cool breeze was finally – _finally_ – whispering a promise that the heat wouldn't last forever. It felt as though she could breathe for the first time in days. No doubt that was owed to the ancient trees that grew throughout the park, filling the air with oxygen.

Jack nodded. "You're an amazing artist, Rapunzel," he said. "I get that it's normal to be nervous, but if you just relax and have fun, you'll have an easier time."

"I guess you're right," she admitted. "It's just that I've been dreaming about it my whole life. If I mess it up—"

"You're not going to mess it up," Jack said matter-of-factly, veering off the path into the grass, towards a large oak tree whose branches extended almost to the walkway. Rapunzel followed, unsurprised as he reached up and grabbed one of the low hanging branches and hoisted himself odd the ground.

There seemed to be a universal law that Jack Frost had to climb any tree his came within twenty yards of. They'd been on walks before, and she was learning to predict when they would veer off so he could climb.

"How can you be sure?" she asked, watching him get his leg over the branch, and pull himself up into a crouch.

"Because it's something you want to do," Jack said. "You're a stubborn girl who isn't going to let anything stand in your way."

"From anyone else that might sound like an insult."

"If you say so."

There was only enough light for her to see him in silhouette as he crouched on the bough. But she still saw him lean forward to reach for the next branch. And she saw him reach too far, losing his balance.

After that it happened too fast for her to remember exactly what happened. She saw him land and the grass, and knew he had fallen the six feet or so. And she thought she heard a snap… though she hoped that was her imagination.

"Jack!" she reached him just as he rolled off his shoulder, onto his back. "Are you all right?"

"Climbing in the dark," Jack muttered, eyes closed as he lay in the grass, his voice tight with pain. "Bad move."

"A-are you all right?" she asked again. "Can you sit up?"

She tried to think if she had any idea what to do in this situation. Should she call an ambulance? Then she remembered that he was a nurse (well, a Certified Nurses Assistant – but close enough, she thought).

"I—" he started to sit up, but then she saw his shoulders settle back into the grass. "I have to go back to work."

"What?"

He started to move again, this time sitting up fully. Though she heard him grimace with pain, one hand pressed to his left shoulder. His torso seemed to be trying to curl around the shoulder. The one he'd fallen on. When he was sitting up, he nodded toward the building that could just be seen on the other side of the park. Too far away from Rapunzel to read the sign on the side, though she knew it was Guardian Hospital for Children.

"Should I call… an ambulance? Someone?"

"No." Jack shook his head. "No. Just… help me up?" In the moonlight she could see his face was bright red.

Standing up, she gripped his right hand, helping to leverage him off the ground.

It was a twenty minute walk across the park, ignoring the path to cut through the lawns, which went almost right up to the hospital doors. Rapunzel worried her lower lip between her teeth the whole way, keeping a careful hand on his right arm. She told herself now was _not_ an appropriate time to think about the muscles she could feel through the sleeves of his scrubs.

The automatic doors slip open as they approached, a wave of cool air that was almost cold blowing over them as they stepped into the air conditioned environment of the hospital. The sterile smell was not Rapunzel's favorite, but this time she barely noticed as they walked toward the front desk, where the nurse on duty looked up from the computer. A vicious smile started to spread across the woman's lips as she pushed curly red hair off her face.

"Not a word, Merida," Jack hissed.

"Oh, come on—"

"No a word," Jack interrupted her. "Just—I just need an X-ray."

The nurse – Merida, as confirmed by her nametag – looked between Jack and Rapunzel, and it looked as though she were biting her lip to keep from saying anything, but she nodded and came around the counter.

#

Jack's guess was correct: the x-rays showed a broken collar bone. No complications, thankfully. There wasn't much the hospital could do (and he seemed to be in a hurry to get out of the child's room Merida had lead them to) so he was given a brace and some painkillers before Merida called them a cab.

"That was a lot more excitement than I expected," Jack said, when they were in the cab.

"N-no, it's okay," Rapunzel said. "I'm just glad you're all right."

Jack gave a one shouldered shrug. "I've had a lot worse. I'm gonna be loopy on painkillers for a while, though."

"If there's anything I can help with, just let me know," she said. The sentence was barely finished when she yawned, realizing just how exhausted she was now the adrenaline from the whole situation had started to drain from her body.

They reached the apartment complex and she helped him up the stairs to the fourth floor, where their apartments were. Jack fumbled his key into the lock, pushing the door open.

She paused, waiting for him to get inside before she headed for her own door.

"Rapunzel…" he ran a hand through his hair. "If I wasn't exhausted, and high on pain killers, I wouldn't be brave enough to do this."

"Do what?"

With one hand gripping his doorknob for balance, Jack leaned forward and brushed his lips lightly over hers. He pulled back quickly, and she couldn't gather her wits to respond.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" His tone was hesitant, and Rapunzel realized he was asking if he had crossed a line.

She smiled, hoping that he wouldn't change his mind when he was thinking clearly. "Yeah. Tomorrow."

Jack grinned. "Meet me at my window."


	2. Ordinary Day

**If you follow me on tumblr, you know that I recently read **_**The Lunar Chronicles **_**series by Marissa Meyer (**_**Cinder, Scarlet, Cress**_** – they're amazing, go read them), and I've had this idea ever since I read **_**Cress**_** a couple weeks ago. I'm taking some liberties with the universe, because it's fanfiction, and because as the writer I can. ;)**

**I don't have the inspiration to write an entire fic for the story, and since this scene is inspired by the last scene in **_**Cress**_**, I'll give you a quick rundown. Jack is the missing Lunar Prince, but he's hiding from his step-father/usurper Kozmotis Pitchner; to hide his identity everyone knows him as Overland. He and Rapunzel met and started to fall in love before things went… wrong. Now Jack is on the run with Hiccup, who is a cyborg, and Merida, who is one of Pitch's lupine hybrid warriors, but her animalistic programing backfired when she met Hiccup and, basically I've completely mixed up the casting, dividing Cinder into Jack and Hiccup, combining Scarlet and Wolf into Merida, Hiccup has a dash of Cress, and Rapunzel is Kai. Pitch is Levana. **

**Though, if you haven't read the books, the story should make a lot more sense than that last paragraph. It's what I'm aiming for, at least. ^^'**

**How I decided this prompt warranted this story is beyond me. **

_Ordinary Day_

"He's coming 'round."

Jack groaned as his eyes flickered open. Above him he saw the familiar slats of his bunk bed onboard the _Night Fury. _

"You've gotta stop letting your power build like that," Hiccup said, as Jack sat up, careful not to hit his head on the top bunk.

He looked over at his friends, who were both in the room. He could see the feint glow in Hiccup's synthetic eyes that meant he was using the data screen there. Either keeping track of the newsfeed or checking Jack's vitals. Merida leaned against the wall, still visibly battered, and he wondered if her position was her lack of interest, or her lack of strength to hold herself up. Even her mane of red hair looked limp.

"What happened?" he asked.

Merida smirked, though the expression fell when it tugged at her split lip. "Your powers exploded again. Knocked out you and every Lunar between us and the ship. Not that dragging you _and_ the queen onboard was fun. You owe me."

"Right." Jack rubbed his face. It was starting to come back, now that he knew what kind of memories he was looking for. His anger and frustration had built up during the fight. The powers he'd been suppressing for weeks since he had no outlet had exploded with his emotions. Things snapped back into place and he looked up at his friends. "Where's Rapunzel?"

"The cockpit," Hiccup said, nodding in the direction. "She came to about an hour ago."

Jack stood up too quickly and had to grab onto the upper bunk to steady himself as his head spun with a lack of oxygen. He took a deep breath, and his blood pumped oxygen to his brain so the world stopped spinning around him. Another breath, just to ensure everything was all right now.

"I'll go talk to her."

"Have fun with that," Merida muttered.

Jack rolled his eyes as he left his room. He paused outside the door of the cockpit, taking a deep breath to prepare himself for whatever came next.

When he he'd planned this thing out in his head he had known she would probably be unconscious when they brought her onboard. Convincing her to abandon what she perceived as her duty would be neigh on impossible Proof being that she had agreed to the marriage even after he'd warned her what Pitchner would do to her.

But _him_ being unconscious had never occurred to him. And somehow, it felt as though her regaining consciousness first throw off the dynamics of this situation. In his still groggy state, he had no idea what he was going to say.

Then he remembered that he hadn't even known that he would say when he'd been planning. Though he had tried not to dwell on that, fooling himself into thinking he would know what to say when he was faced with her. But as he'd proved when he'd been face to face with her in the palace after all these months, that had been fool hardy to say the least.

When he had his nerves relatively under control, he touched the door controls and they slid open. The light panels were on low, most of the light came from the sun through the viewport, which granted a spectacular view of earth below them.

In the pilot's seat sat Rapunzel. She had let her blonde hair down from the elegant updo it had been in, though she still wore the white wedding dress. Though she looked beautiful, Jack hated that dress. For a number of reasons. Three off the top of his head.

Was it really a crime if the second one was jealousy?

Her knees were pulled to her chest, and she didn't look away from the blue planet as he came over to sit in the co-pilot's seat. (The symbolism was not missed.)

For several minutes they were silent. It felt longer, but it timed it by the clock on the ship's dash.

Just when he started trying to figure out what to say, she broke the silence.

"You kidnapped me."

While the word "kidnap" had been used when they'd been planning this whole thing, it seemed especially horrible coming from her mouth.

"I save you from a marriage to Kozmotis Pitchner," he said, trying to keep back the edge in his voice. But he didn't entirely succeed. "You're welcome."

She glowered at him. Anyone who thought the young queen was capable of glowering had no idea what she was like.

Jack sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"I can't believe I trusted you."

Okay, that hurt a lot more than he wanted to admit.

"Why didn't you tell me you were Lunar?"

"It wasn't personal," Jack said. "No one was supposed to know. I blew that at the ball."

"Why?" she asked, a challenge in her tone. "Were you afraid I'd deport you?"

That actually made him laugh. "I'd like to see you try Ra- Your Majesty." He caught himself just in time. Despite his frustration, he wanted her to see that he wasn't the villain here. Respecting her position would probably help that.

But her face hardened and she rose to her feet with the whisper of silk. Slender shoulder were squared as she looked down at him with all the authority of her rank.

"Turn off your glamour."

Jack blinked. "What?"

"Turn it off," she repeated. "You've lied to me from the moment we've met. At least show me what you really look like."

"You've already seen me," he reminded. "That night at the ball."

When Pitch had confronted him that night his control had slipped, and his glamour had fallen when his emotions because too strong for him to maintain it. He hadn't gotten his hood up fast enough to hide from Pitchner. Hence why everything had spiraled out of control until he had to kidnap Rapunzel.

"You got your hands up too fast," Rapunzel said. "I only got a glimpse."

Too bad Rapunzel and Pitchner hadn't been standing in different places.

Though Pitchner would still have been furious that there was a Lunar on Earth.

"That's an order," Rapunzel said when he hesitated.

"I'm Lunar, Ra—Your Majesty," he said. You're not my queen."

Wrong thing to say, judging by her expression.

Inhaling the slightly stale air circulated through the ship's life support system…Jack dropped his glamour. Too his own eyes, immune to his mind's tricks, there was no difference, even in his reflection in the viewport. But in his mind he could feel the difference. He maintained his glamour every waking moment, so letting go was like relaxing a muscle that's been too long in one position. It felt strangely loose.

Looking at Rapunzel, it was strange to realize she saw him the way he saw himself in the mirror. The way no one else saw him. Except Hiccup, whose cybernetic implants enabled to see past the glamour when he focused. Jack knew what his glamour looked like only from a sketch Hiccup had done once when they'd both been bored and Jack had been curious. Before that all he'd really known was that his hair and eyes looked brown. That was what North had said when they'd constructed the glamour, back when Jack had been eight.

His real skin was paler (or so he was told), his hair white and his eyes blue. Decidedly Lunar features.

Features of the royal family.

Rapunzel's expression softened, and she took a step forward. Her eyes were wide as they searched his face, drinking it in. He remembered when she'd done that before, when they'd first met. And he had hated that she was drinking in a lie. He had wanted to badly to show her the truth – for her to see him for who he truly was.

Instead he had kissed her just as he'd felt the glamour fall. It was something he had wanted to do – but it felt wrong that he had used it to maintain his lie.

Now he found himself sinking back in his chair. Without his glamour he felt vulnerable. It was his defense, North had taught him.

"Most Lunars use their glamours to make themselves beautiful," she said, her expression turning from awestruck to confused. "You… you make yourself look plain?"

It took all his will power not to pull his hood up to hide his hair. "I'm trying to avoid attention."

"But… why?"

He couldn't meet her eyes.

"Overland, why would you do that?"

"My name's not Overland." The words came out before he could stop them. His eyes were locked on the Earth out the viewport. "It's Jackson. Or Jack. Not that anyone calls me that any more." Not with North gone.

"Jack…" her voice started as a whisper and faded to nothing as she stared at him. He could almost see the cogs turning in her brain, making the connected. "You're… you're the Lunar Prince."

"The one and only," he said. "Pitchner's step-son. You'll forgive me if I didn't want you as my step-mother." Or step-step-mother… whatever it was, besides complicated.

Rapunzel sat back in the pilot's seat. "And he knows."

"Yeah. Probably knows I'm going to take back the throne, too. Or that I'm at least going to try."

"When you said he killed your mother, you meant…"

"That's why I didn't doubt the information when Hiccup found it – that Pitchner would kill you as soon as he had the throne. The entire Lunar Court knows he killed my mother, but most of them are too scared to stand up to him."

"But you're going to take back the throne." It wasn't a question.

Jack nodded. "Someone has to. Problem is, my guardian is gone, and he never told me what his plan was. So now it's just me, Hiccup… and, oh yeah, one of Pitchner's lupine warriors. You met Merida."

"Yes," Rapunzel said carefully. "And, you trust her?"

Jack sighed. "Merida? Not really," he admitted. "But I trust her feelings for Hiccup. It might sound horrible, but she's not a good enough liar to fake that."

Rapunzel stood up again, this time walking around the small cockpit. Jack turned his chair to follow her with his eyes. The train of her dress was a twisted knot as she walked in a circle.

Finally, she looked at him again. "back at the palace, you said you never manipulated my feelings."

"I was too busy truing to maintain my glamour," he said. "I wanted to tell you, Ra- Your Majesty. But I think you're aware Pitchner wants me dead. It's not that I don't trust you, but I've been told all my life that no one can know."

"And now he knows," she said. "At the ball, when your glamour slipped, I didn't understand why he was so furious."

"I lost control."

"That's why you weren't going to come," she said. "When I invited you to the ball. But you came… to warn me…"

He looked down at the floor. He had risked everything that night for her.

"When I found out you were Lunar, I thought maybe you had kissed me because you were trying to manipulate me."

"I wouldn't." He chuckled darkly. "If you'd opened you eyes any sooner, you would have seen me. I barely got my glamour back up in time."

"So, you meant it?"

He nodded, still not daring to look at her. Even when she stepped closer, cupping his cheek with a warm hand. Not until she leaned down by his chair. With a soft smile, she leaned up to kiss him.

Jack felt his heart start to pound. And when she didn't pull back, his brain finally stopped trying to bring his glamour back up, turning all his attention to the fact he was kissing Rapunzel again. Something he had wanted, but never thought would happen.

Of their own accord his hands came up to run through her hair, pushing it off her shoulders even as he slid off the chair to the floor, so the kiss was easier. Her small hands curled around the fabric of his hoodie as he leaned in closer.

"Jack?" she barely pulled back.

Hearing his real name was fantastic.

Hearing his real name on her lips was indescribable.

"Yeah?"

"You can call me Rapunzel."

Jack grinned as he leaned back into the kiss, arms finding their way around her waist. Her fingers had just curled into the hair at the base of his neck when the door hissed open.

"Overland…" Hiccup's voice trailed off as he took in the scene, and Jack wondered just how bad it looked. But after a moment Hiccup cleared his throat. "Sorry. But, Pitchner's just declared war on Earth. Every country in the Union is under attack."

Rapunzel's arms tensed around his neck.

"We knew he would retaliate," Jack said.

"What are they doing?" she asked. "What is Corona doing?"

"Your cousin, Elsa, is acting as temporary leader until you're found," Hiccup said, looking at the princess. "She's declared a state of war and is allying with the other armies of the Union."

Rapunzel looked at Jack, her arms still around his neck. "Jack, you said you have a plan?"

"I need your help," he said, looking back at her.

"Just tell me what I can do to help."


	3. Iris

**I won't be online this weekend, so here's Saturday's story – and I'll post Sunday's story on Monday. Hopefully.**

**I like superheroes. Hence why this is my fourth superhero AU for Jackunzel. It was supposed to be fluff with lots of kissing… then it turned into angst. *sigh* Typical. **

**As a **_**Doctor Who**_** fan, I couldn't resist the reference in this one. And it almost hurt not to let Jack actually name the Vashta Narada – but since Jack's not a fanboy (not in this story) I didn't feel I could realistically let him remember the name.**

_Iris_

_And I don't want the world to see me/I just want you to know who I am_

Jack grimaced as his thumb ran over a raw scrape on his knuckle to wipe away blood and grit. Water from the bathroom faucet ran over his hands, washing away blood, and pooling red in the bottom of the sink. His body hurt.

Yet again he found himself wondering why he did this. Why he put on skintights and went out to save a world that seemed to like him less and less with each passing day. He'd been doing this since he was sixteen, and it just seemed to get harder with each passing year. Not physically. Physically he was fine – and he almost enjoyed that part of it. But emotionally…

Emotionally he was exhausted.

Looking up from his hands, he looked into the large mirror above the skin. With a roll of his neck to try and ease the tension in his shoulders he withdrew his powers. His eyes stung as they changed from blue to brown, while in his reflection his hair made a similar change from white to brown. Eight years and he was still disconcerted when he watched the transformation. He'd had a mental breakdown when he was seventeen, triggered by an identity crisis.

Shedding his skintights he got into the shower. The hot water helped with some of the tension that seemed to radiate from his upper spine.

Once he got on he pulled on a pair of drawstring pants and left the bathroom. He'd expected Rapunzel would have come into the bedroom while he was in the bathroom, now he was home safely. But instead he found her still on the couch in the living room, hands wrapped around a mug as she watched something on TV.

"Why are you still up?"

"This… _documentary_ came on, talking about how supers are a 'threat to our society' and how we need to take steps to 'control the growing mutant population'."

Jack groaned as he collapsed onto the couch, stretching out with his head on her lap. Probably from habit one of her hands left her mug to play with his hair. "Rapunzel, you know it's just gonna upset you."

"I'm trying to stay informed," she said, taking a sip of tea.

Jack glanced at the screen, where some "expert" with a fancy title was making some long winded point Jack couldn't figure out heads or tails of. With another groan he turned his face into the pink fleece fabric of his wife's pajama pants. "Can we just go to bed? It's two in the morning."

And he could think of much better uses of their time if they were going to stay up.

"You realize: if we have children they'll probably be mutants," she said quietly.

That he couldn't argue with. The latest science indicated that the mutant gene passed through the father. So there wasn't a guarantee, but it was still a strong possibility. And it wasn't something he had talked about much. Possibly because, while they both wanted children, neither wanted to bring them into a world currently so hostile towards mutants.

"Don't do that, Jack."

"What?"

"You're thinking too much, and it's making you depressed."

Jack sighed – though his lips twitched in amusement at just how well she knew him. "It seems like, the harder I fight, the worse things get."

"You know what's not true."

He sat up, running a ahdn through his hair. "No, I don't. When I was fifteen there weren't doctors and professors talking about how mutants are a threat that needs to be 'contained'." He glowered at the man on the screen.

They both watched as it cut to footage of the Guardians fighting Pitch and the Five Terrors. Jack saw himself sent flying through the window of a skyscraper and recognized the fight. It was from a month or so ago.

"These Guardians have set themselves up as protectors of the city." The footage of the fight cut to a portly, balding man in a room lined with books and expensive looking trinkets. "As judge and jury – which goes against everything this country was founded on. And every fight results in property damage and loss of innocent lives."

"You have got to be kidding me." Jack stared at the screen.

The footage changed to an older woman with too many gold bracelets. "These so called heroes clearly think they're above the law – which proves they believe themselves to be superior to the average layman. And this is a horrible example!" Her eyes were wide for dramatic affect. "How can we teach children to talk things out in a mature, civilized manner when society idolizes these people who solve everything through violence. This is not the way to teach children how to coexist."

"I don't like her," Jack said, glaring at the woman on the screen.

"You didn't even hair what she said at the beginning," Rapunzel said. "She's awful."

"I don't want to hear it," Jack muttered.

Another man was on the screen now. The writing on the bottom said he was a doctor – the author of some book about the danger of mutants in society.

Grabbing the remote from the coffee table, Jack hit the power button.

The screen went back.

"Sorry, but – I can't," he said. "I can't take it."

"It's okay," Rapunzel assured softly.

Jack stood up, going over to stand at the window that over looked the city. The lights would never all go out – but still the city looked dark. Trying so hard to hold back the night, and always losing. Jack remembered an episode of _Doctor Who _he had watched with Rapunzel – where the shadows held piranha-like monsters. Count the shadows, the episode had said. But how did you count the shadows when they all merged into one?

He braced his hands on his hips as he watched the city.

Eight years he'd been doing this. Five of which he'd been working with the Guardians. Possibly the only good decision he had made since donning the skintights. Aside from marrying Rapunzel. That was the best decision he had made, period.

"Jack."

Crossing his arms over his chest he turned to look at her. "Why am I out there getting beaten for people who want to throw me in a cage when I could just come home after work and be with you. It's where I want to be anyway."

Slowly Rapunzel set her mug on the coffee table, getting up from the couch. She came to stand behind him, touching his shoulders gently.

"Because you're the better person. You're a good man, and you do the right thing."

"The right thing is starting to get really annoying." He looked down at his raw knuckles.

She kissed his shoulder. "I know."

Jack sighed as she wrapped her arms around his waist, and he could feel her warmth spreading through his back. Even when he wasn't accessing his power the difference in their body temperatures was decided.

After a moment, he loosened her arms so he could turn to face her. Leaning down he kissed her… and as his brain released dopamine and endorphins into his system, and everything else the kiss triggered, he felt himself start to relax. The pain in his shoulders dissipated as her fingers fluttered over his chest, trying to curl around the folds of a shirt before realizing he was shirtless. So instead her arms twined around his neck, and her lips parted as permission to deepen the kiss.

His own fingers found purchase in the faded cotton Skillet tshirt she wore – something she had stolen from his side of the closet, but which he secretly liked.

After a moment he pulled back. She let out a soft moan of disappointment (one he shared) but her eyes drifted open.

"Let's get out of here," he said.

Her eyes widened.

"For a few days," he clarified. "Just… can we get away from everything for a while? Just you and me?"

Her green eyes searched his face for a moment before she nodded, her lips pulling in a smile. "Okay."

"Good." He leaned in to kiss her again, this time with no intention of stopping.

Let the world think what they wanted to about him.

As long as she thought he was a hero… that was all he needed.


End file.
